No Such Things
by Maddy Soup
Summary: For Sora's whole childhood, Riku told logically, what was and wasn't real. And Sora realizes, of course, that Riku's been wrong the whole time. Oneshot drabble.


Disclaimer:

Don't own it.

_:The Soup Can:_

I thought of this while singing this song from a play I was in, Babes in Toyland, and the song is so cute, but I thought of this not-so-adorable story to go with it. I hope you like it.

I didn't write the song, but it goes like this if you're curious:

_Jill  
__"I have traveled all around  
To every place the piper's sound  
Not one giant I have found  
There are no such things_

_I have never seen a broom  
__Fly across from room to room  
__Sweeping in the doom and gloom  
__There are no such things_

_Witches don't brew magic potions  
__Worlocks don't have secret 'lors,' 'lors'  
__(Oh my 'lors')  
__Serpants don't live in the ocean_

_Jack  
__(spoken)  
__But are you-_

_Jill  
__Yes, Jack!  
__I am very sure  
__And let me tell you one thing more_

_I am oh so sure of this  
__Ghosts and ogres don't exist  
__And genies don't have magic rings  
__I know that there are no such things!"_

**-:No Such Things:-  
****+By Soupie+**

"...And that's when the Ghastly Goblin creeped out and tore the flesh of the boy into a thousand pieces!"

Gasps poured from the children around the room, and the young friends huddled closer together. The second oldest, an orange haired native, laughed maniacally as he held the flashlight to his face.

"Scared, Tidus?"

"N-No!" the blonde stuttered, fear evident in his voice. He clung closer to the red-haired girl beside him, and she shivered as she clung onto the brunette next to her. He seemed the most intrigued, and only a little scared. With a laugh, he jumped up, a fake sword in hand.

"That's so cool! I'm gonna go vanquish the Ghastly Goblin! You just watch! I'll give it a _YAH!-"_ he gave a side swing, "-And a _Hiiiiya!-"_ he leaped up, his sword over his head and brought it down on the ground. The female redhead giggled nervously.

"You can protect us then, Sora," she told him, and he swung his sword over his shoulder with a confident grin. Suddenly a hand reached out and grabbed Sora's side, making the eight-year-old scream loudly in fright. With a leap, he hid behind Kairi and Tidus. A light chuckle escaped the lips of the 'attacker.'

"Sora, you're all talk. You're as scared as they are."

"N-No! I'm not scared! I'm gonna go fight the monsters away!"

Riku sighed, running a hand through his silver hair. Two years Sora's senior (for six months, until Sora turned nine), he found himself superior, and felt it necessary to inform them of truth.

"There's no such thing as monsters, guys. Grow up."

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Riku, you have to go to sleep! Santa won't come if you don't!"

The night was cold, and the nine year old Sora peered cautiously out from beneath his covers. The silver-haired boy was sitting casually at his windowsill, an annoyed look on his face. He raised an eyebrow to the brunette, as if acknowledging him.

"Come again?"

"Santa! Santa Claus! You know, the one who comes around every Christmas Eve and gives presents to all the good boys and girls in the whole world! I've been so good this year-he's sure to give me the super-water-pistol-2300 I want! So hurry and go to bed!"

Riku scoffed, peering out into the moonlit sky.

"Santa Claus? That's impossible. Nobody can give EVERYONE in the whole world presents in one night. That's just stupid. Besides, I never get presents."

"That's cause you're rotton!" Sora groaned, pulling the covers high over his head. Riku was silent for a long time, before finally crawling into his sleeping bag on the floor, muttering to himself more to anyone else.

"There's no such thing as Santa Claus, Sora. Grow up."

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Sora seemed tentative, his face covered in a light blush. He shuffled his feet gently against each other, fingers playing with each other in a modest display of embarassment.

"Y-You promi-"

"I promise, I won't tell anyone," Riku groaned, rolling his eyes. There was another hesitant pause, and finally Sora cleared his throat.

"Well...I was wondering...what you'd say if I told you...I...I think I like...Kairi..."

Riku raised an eyebrow, and Sora shielded his face by looking at his shoes on the ground below. For a long moment Riku said nothing, and Sora believed him to be angry with him. With a sudden sigh, Riku stood and smacked Sora on the back, walking past him.

"C'mon, let's get some ice cream. Your treat."

"Wha-! Riku, wait! What about-"

"You idiot. You act like I didn't know."

Sora's face was confused, while Riku's was a smug grin plastered on his face. Sora ran to catch up with him, looking vulnerable but relieved.

"So...you knew? And you made me suffer all that time?"

Riku laughed, grabbing a vanilla ice cream bar, while Sora grabbed chocolate. Almost mindlessly, Sora paid for the two treats.

"I thought you knew already Sora!"

"Knew what?"

"There's no such thing as secrets between best friends, Sora. Grow up."

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

The darkness was everywhere. Riku felt something calling to him, but he ignored it. The light feelings drifted away from him, and all he felt was a dark cloud of power. He was drunk off it; he was high off it; he craved more; he needed it.

Then, a voice.

"Riku!"

Sora...innocent, sweet, scared little Sora, with big blue eyes. Riku understood then. Sora was light, and no matter how much he wanted or needed it, the light was not his. But he could still have power, without light. He offered it to Sora, knowing that it would be his best friend's last time seeing him for a long, long time and thinking of him as Riku as the dynamic duo that was Sora and Riku. As merely two people who grew up together, shared a home and memories together. Not a rival, not an enemy...but as a best friend.

The darkness was swallowing up everything. Sora reached further, but something else was calling him. The same thing that had been calling to Riku. Sora deserved it more. Fear was more evident than ever in his eyes; fear of losing his lifelong companion. The thought made Riku happy. The fifteen-year-old let himself be consumed at long last, a single thought drifting through his mind.

"There's no such thing as fear, Sora. Grow up."

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

D a r k n e s s . . .

I t ' s . . . e v e r y w h e r e . . .

S o r a . . . h e l p m e . . .

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Hooded in black, eyes concealed by a black blindfold, he walked amongst the rainy city streets. His mouth was a thin line, and he felt anger in his empty heart. He had lost. He had tried _everything_ to make Sora wake up, and now that he had the only way within his grasp, he had _lost._

Rain began pouring from the sky down, wetting his entire being, disguising the small droplets of water running down under his blindfold. Frustration crept up inside him like an angry ball; frustration from his journeys, from his struggles, from fighting, from the past, from Kairi, from Namine, from Roxas, from Mickey, from Organization XIII...from Sora...

He raised his blind eyes to the sky, holding his arms out and accepting the rain and all the darkness he felt from it. He basked in it; the cold, the black, empty feeling of his broken heart...his lonely, lonely heart...he thought to the days gone by, for a moment. Flashes of sunlight and smiles and vanilla ice cream raced through his mind's eye. Of a redhead that he once felt he loved, and a brunette that he knew he did. His high-pitched voice whispered teasingly into Riku's ear.

'We'll be best friends forever, okay Riku!'

'...Whatever.'

'H-Hey, what's that supposed to mean?'

'...I'm hungry. Buy me ice cream, alright Sora?'

'Riku! Wait up!'

The ghost of a once happy smile graced his pale, wet features, and Riku felt inside his heart a melancholy warmth. He sighed as he shook his head, whispering words he only wished his young friend could hear.

"There's no such thing as forever, Sora. Grow up."

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

R i k u . . .

W h y a r e y o u b e i n g s o s t u b b o r n ?

L i s t e n t o m e f o r o n c e . . .

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

I've grown up, Riku.

And though it's taken almost ten years, I'm about ready to prove you wrong.

There _is _such things as monsters.They don't have hearts and they killed a lot of people. They act like bugs do, thoughtlessly intent on a single purpose-to get to the strongest hearts they can get their claws on. They didn't appear from an artist's nightmare, nor from a writer's experience. They are real.

There _is_ such thing as Santa Claus. I met him. And it's _your_ fault I didn't get my super-water-pistol-2300. Jerk.

There _is_ such thing as secrets between friends. Look at you; you kept all those secrets from me. You never told me you had Kairi before we went to Neverland, or that you were watching me all those times in disguise with the organization. And I kept things from you, too; I never did tell you that I was the one who broke your sword when Tidus and I were sparring years ago. But I think you might have already known that. You always saw right through all of our lies anyway.

There _is_ such thing as fear. It's as real as the skin on my hand-and let me reassure you I have skin on both hands. It's like a disease, and it makes people do the most absurd things to each other. It lives within everyone; it lived with you on the island. You were afraid you were going to separate from Kairi and I, because you had to keep your cool all the time, never letting anyone into the wall you made because you feared we'd hate the sympathetic teddy-bear that you really are. You're paranoid. Cute, but paranoid.

And, for God's sake, Riku...

There _is_ such thing as forever. It's the endless state that you and I both entered for those short moments when we were enveloped into the darkness. You...I don't know how you dealt with it the way you did. It crushes and bruises, but it's an eternity inside a moment. Forever is what has kept me going; the prospect that one day, you and me will go back to the island and live happily ever after. And even when we do die, after that, our hearts will remain, won't they? We're too strong, and too special for them not to. We deserve _more _than everyone else--we deserve forever. It'll be like when we were on the other side--remember how wonderful that was? Just you and me, and the great big sea, and all the time in the world.

Don't crush my hopes of forever, Riku.

There are monsters.

There is Santa.

There are secrets.

There is fear.

And there will always, _always_ be forever.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**..:Fin:..**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

My first ever (posted) fic. Love it, hate it, tell me about it.

Lovingly yours,

Soupie


End file.
